Social Justice Art and Anti-Racist Education

 

Social Justice is a big issue to discuss and model with students and it starts right in the classroom. If we are not recognizing the injustice that exists, we are misleading our future generation. Though this might be a challenge at times, it is important to me to implicate it. While it will be okay to bring up conflict and current issues with social justice, Marit Dewhurst brought up a fair point in her article, “An Inevitable Question: Exploring the Defining Features of Social Justice Art Education.” She said, “While people often assume that social justice art education must be based on controversial or overtly political issues (i.e. race, violence, discrimination, etc.), this is not always the case. Rather as long as the process of making art offers participants a way to construct knowledge, critically analyze an idea, and take action in the world, then they are engaged in a practice of social justice art making.” 

 

There are many examples of implementing the promotion of Social Justice in the classroom. This could look like orchestrating a form of art called social practice in your classroom. In the PBS documentary, “Social Practice Art: Engaging Community Through Art | KQED Arts”, Two artists, Chris Treggiari and Chris Johnson, went into the streets of Oakland to record conversations of the people there and make art. Chris Treggiari’s objective was to talk about the broad feelings towards surveillance cameras in the community. Chris Johnson’s idea was to truly get to know the people in his community, as opposed to making assumptions. He spent time recognizing people fighting adversity as heroes. The fun thing about this type of art for students is that you’re not refined to a medium. The ultimate goal is to bring oneness by recognizing diversity and questioning society.  

 

Both artists weren’t only doing social practice, but they were making community art. Community art is when you pull art out of where it is normally made and seen. This helps draw people in and, in the case of Social Justice, helps draw attention to the meaning of the process and/or finished artwork. It is important to get the ball rolling with your students and help them make self-discoveries in meaningful lessons from your projects. 

 

Along with incorporating Social Justice into art lessons, being an anti-racist teacher is an important quality to have when creating a positive learning environment for your students. The best way to do this is by first recognizing your biases. As we have been learning from current events such as George Floyd’s death, people act upon their biases subconsciously. We need to bring awareness to those thoughts and make sure they never appear in our actions. As a teacher, it is also important to structure your lessons in a way that promotes diversity and inclusion. This can start with including a list of diverse artist examples. When I did teaching experience at a racially diverse high school, I did not have them look at a bunch of Caucasian artists. Instead, I encouraged them by showing artists that look like them. 

 

As educators, it is our responsibility to give students content that will shape them into more accepting individuals who will stand up for members of their community who are different from them. These students are the next generation. How do we want them to influence society? That will be determined by how we first influence them.